“Tuesday’s a crap night for a gig!” bellows Twin Atlantic lead singer Sam McTrusty, decrying his band’s tour date scheduling. Indeed, the day is a bit-part player in rock’n’roll history: for The Cure, a grey Tuesday was a mere delay in the march to Friday, whilst Jon Bon Jovi longed to be Saturday night. Still, after 17 years, there must have been a string of Tuesdays on Twin Atlantic’s long slog towards success.
In the words of Walter Elliot, “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” And so, here at Cardiff’s Tramshed, the Glasgow band are playing what must be their zillionth gig. Mentioning Cardiff’s long-gone Barfly, where they performed back in the day, frontman McTrusty shares snippets of their odyssey between forming in 2007 and releasing their seventh album, Meltdown, in August. Their biggest hit – number 17 in the UK charts – remains Heart And Soul, from 2014.
Joining them this evening, and no doubt hoping for their shot at success, is support act, Daytime TV. With his blonde mullet, black jacket and sunglasses indoors, frontman Will Irvine looks like Billy Idol 2.0, the band sucker-punching the waiting audience with their no-holds-barred opening track. Like the incoming main act, they too are catchy and a little poppy, with an indie-alt-rock vibe.
Tonight, the hall’s animated and full of energy: singalongs, hands raised in passionate response, occasional bouncing to the rockier songs. It’s fair to say that Twin Atlantic (and Daytime TV) deliver, their opening songs the blueprint for the rest of their performance. If you like your rock straight up, without curveballs or tangents into musical irregularity, you’ll be at home here.
Twin Atlantic’s more punctuated songs shine through. Meltdown, No Sleep and, of course, Heart And Soul resonate as expected, and in turn, the obligatory one-man-and-his-acoustic-guitar moments arise, where the band leave the stage to McTrusty and a more intimate spirit infuses those assembled. Snow In Texas, in particular, provides a welcome departure.
If one thing stands out, it’s the enthusiasm and energy that the frontman brings. Impassioned, energetic and vigorous, McTrusty occasionally ditches his guitar to allow him greater freedom, and at intervals engages the audience too, apologising to one woman at the front for accidentally spitting at her (“I’m the world’s cheesiest frontman! I dedicate this next song to you…”). When the crowdpleasers are coming thick and fast in Twin Atlantic’s setlist, it’s a case of job done – or, in the singer’s words, “Now it feels like a Saturday!”
Twin Atlantic, Tramshed, Cardiff, Tue 12 Nov
words OLIVER R MOORE-HOWELLS photos DANIELLE WILSON
